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How do fashions reflect their times? Could the clothing of the 1920s tell us something about the period? During this decade, clothing loosened up from the restrictions of previous decades, both in terms of formality, and in how it fit the body.
Clothing can be seen as an act of rebellion against social norms: women bobbed their hair after a century or more of elaborate, long hairstyles; there was a fad for women’s stockings rolled down the leg, even below the knee, rather than held in place with garters, something considered quite risque. Gender norms were played with and questioned. Magazines and newspapers of the 1920s depict the fashionable young woman as modern, independent, and exuberantly challenging social norms, while she valued freedom and fun.
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Cate Cooney, you've identified an engaging question - "How do fashions reflect their times?" - that can lead to some fascinating historical connections for students.
I thought of your question only yesterday when I was listening to the audio version of a new book by Candice Millard titled River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. (That link goes to a 2022 interview with Millard during the National Book Festival). It's the story of Sir Richard Francis Burton, famed explorer, orientalist scholar, writer, linguist, and soldier of the 1800s. You might reasonably ask what in the world his story might have to do with fashion!
In a tiny anecdote from the book, I learned that while in Crimea, Burton visited Balaklava, site of a disastrous 1854 rout of British forces during the Crimean War. It is the defeat also made famous by the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade. Both the commander who issued a dubious order in the Battle of Balaklava and the general who led the charge of the light brigade have connections to fashion!
What? Yes! The ambiguous order had been issued by FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. The raglan sleeve is named after him.
And the charge was led by James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan. If you've ever worn a cardigan, you can thank the Earl!
Who knew?
Who knew, indeed! Fascinating!
This album is a work in progress, and I hope to have something together in the next couple of weeks. Look for a post in the Arts and Primary Sources group soon.
The connections just keep coming! Clothing names such as cardigan and raglan sleeve actually came about as a promotional idea that tied inventions of the second industrial revolution to war heroes (although "heroes" is questionable in this case). And here's another factoid to add to our stories. The raglan sleeve design allowed Baron Raglan, "who had lost his right arm forty years earlier during the Battle of Waterloo, to more easily swing his sword. Years later, it would be adopted in the United States for baseball."
Satchel Paige, in the Kansas City Monarchs uniform at a baseball game
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